Eleven Entities in Iowa, Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska to Receive More Than $4.5M from EPA to Assess, Clean up and Revitalize Brownfield Properties

(Lenexa, Kan., May 8, 2013) - Nine cities and two state agencies in Region 7 have been selected to receive more than $4.5 million from EPA’s Brownfields Assessment, Revolving Loan Fund and Cleanup (ARC) Grants program. These funds will provide key support toward the assessment, cleanup and revitalization of brownfields properties in Iowa, Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska communities.

The 11 recipients in EPA Region 7 are among 240 in 45 states to receive ARC grants for 2013.

EPA’s Brownfields ARC Grants target under-served and economically disadvantaged neighborhoods where environmental cleanups and new jobs are most needed. Region 7 communities will use these funds to conduct environmental assessments, cleanup planning, cleanups and conduct community outreach. Coalition partnerships allow recipients to reach more neighborhoods that might not otherwise have access to resources to address blight.

Brownfields are defined as those properties whose expansion, redevelopment, or reuse may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant. Brownfields sites include all "real property," including residential, commercial and industrial properties. It is estimated that there are more than 450,000 brownfields in the U.S. Cleaning up and reinvesting in these properties increases local tax bases, facilitates job growth, utilizes existing infrastructure, takes development pressures off of undeveloped, open land, and both improves and protects the environment.